Thread



NOV. 12, 1968 FREEDMAN ET AL 3,410,078

THREAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 27, 1964 W M N wA U T M E N NDE DuBER o VE T Nm M 1 L R E N mm E H Nov. 12, 1968 A. FREEDMAN ET AL3,410,078

THREAD Filed April 27, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.3

INVENTOR. ARNOLD FREEDMAN BY HERBERT LGREENBLATT @mmma ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent THREAD Arnold Freedman, Allentown, Pa., and Herbert I.Greenblatt, Woodmere, N.Y., assignors to Synthetic Thread Company, Inc.,Bethlehem, Pa., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 27, 1964, Ser. No.362,769 11 Claims. (Cl. 57144) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This inventionrelates to a novel thread and more particularly to a thread providedwith ac ore and sheath of different materials.

Heretofore, it has been found highly desirable for many purposes to usea strong thread consisting of continuous filament yarn such as nylon,silk, rayon, polyester fibers or the like. However, continuous filamentyarns lack ultraviolet and chemical resistance and do not possess theelasticity required for certain applications. Furthermore, continuousfilament yarns do not expand in the presence of moisture to seal needleholes as is particularly desirable in sewing together materials forawnings, tarpaulins, tents, umbrellas and other coverings. In addition,continuous filament yarns are not adapted for use in high speed sewingoperations for the reason that the build-up of needle heat can causemelting of the continuous filament yarn. Continuous filament yarns mayalso slip back through a stitching pattern as a result of their smoothsurface and relative inelasticity. As a consequence, despite the manyhighly desirable characteristics of continuous filament yarns their useis oftentimes limited.

It is therefore one of the primary objects of this invention to providea thread which has all of the desirable characteristics of continuousfilament yarns and none of the deficiencies thereof.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a thread whichpossesses high tensile strength together with ultraviolet and chemicalresistance and elasticity.

Another object of the present invention is to 'provide a thread whichmay be effectively used in high speed seW- ing operations without anydamage to the thread and which does not slip back through the stitchingpattern.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a threadwhich, while very strong, is nevertheless possessed of thecharacteristic of expanding in the presence of moisture to seal needleholes and make the resultant product as waterproof as possible.

The invention comprises a thread having a core of continuous filamentyarn which is enwrapped by a thread of staple fiber, as for example,cotton. The continuous filament yarn, according to the present inventionas illustrated and described herein, consists of a bundle of untwistedfibers, although, it will be understood that this description is purelyfor illustrative purposes as the continuous filament may be providedwith a twist of from Zero to a limited number of twists while stillproducing the desired result.

The present invention provides a unique and highly desirable threadproduced by utilizing a staple fiber which is provided with a Z-twist oran S-twist before being wound upon the filament yarn. The direction oftwisting of the staple fiber upon the continuous filament yarn is in theopposite direction from the twist given the staple fiber prior towinding. In addition, the staple fiber may be given a silicone coatingjustprior to being wound upon the continuous filament yarn core.

The invention will be described in greater detail in connection with thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates diagrammatically the formation of the combinationthread of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a fragment of the thread produced by theapparatus of FIG. 1, in accordance with this invention; and

FIG. 3 shows a compound machine for making a twoply thread similar tothe single-ply thread of FIG. 2.

The apparatus of FIG. 1 includes a cone 11 of thread 12, of a staplefiber such as cotton, other natural fibers, or material which acts likenatural or staple fibers. The thread 12 is twisted with either a Z-twistor an S-twist prior to being wound upon the cone 11. As it is unwoundfrom the cone, the thread 12 passes over a pulley which is simplyillustrated in the form of a bar 13.

Adjacent the cone 11 is another cone 14 upon which is wound a continuousfilament yarn 16, such as Dacron or nylon, or other relatively endlessyarn. This yarn will be hereinafter referred to as the core material,since it is the center of the thread to be formed in accordance withthis invention. Furthermore, in accordance with the present invention,it is provided with no twist or substantially no twist such as a verylimited twist. The core material 16 is unwound from the cone 14 andpasses over the same pulley 13 as the fiber 12.

After passing over the pulley 13, the fiber 12 comes in contact with arotating drum 17 whose surface passes through a container 18 of siliconecoating liquid. The liquid is carried by the drum and applied to thesurface of the fiber 12. Thereafter the fiber 12 passes into atensioning device 19.

The core material 16, on the other hand, is not coated with the siliconematerial, but passes directly into a tensioning device 21.

A Godet 22 comprising a large roller 23 and a smaller roller 24 isdisposed below the tensioning devices 19 and 21. The core material 16and the fiber 12 are wound together on the Godet and pass off of theGodet as a single fiber 26 into the top ring 27 of a twisting device.Thereafter the fiber 26 passes through a twisting ring 28 and on to aspindle 29.

Prior to being wound on the spindle 29, fiber 12 is wound about the corematerial 16 in the manner shown in FIG. 2. Initially, as aforesaid, thefiber 12 is twisted with an S-twist or a Z-twist. In either case thefiber 12 is wrapped over the core material in such fashion as tocompletely encase the core material 16-with a layer of fiber 12.Specifically, in accordance with the present invention, in the event thefiber 12 was originally provided with an S-twist, it is wound about thecore material with a Z- twist movement, which is the situation shown forillustrative purposes in FIG. 2. In the event the fiber Was originallyprovided with a Z-twist it is wound about the core material with anS-twist movement. Twisting the fiber about the core material in adirection opposite to the twist of the original fiber, it has beendiscovered, causes the fiber to completely encase the core material anda thread is thereby provided which has all of the desirable'characteristics of both the staple fibers and the continuous filamentyarn in a unique and novel combination thread.

The twisting of the fiber 12 upon the core material 16 may or may notput turns into the core material. The resultant thread may be made withrelatively high integrity or it may be made with lesser integrity byusing tensioned core material 16, particularly Dacron, and untensionedends of cotton for the thread 12 run through the same twisting spindleand Godet.

While FIG. 2 shows only a single-ply material, i.e., a thread having onecore bundle and one wrapping bundle, it may, under certain conditions,be desirable to provide a multi-ply thread in which two or more of thecombination threads shown in FIG. 2 are twisted together to form athicker, stronger, more complex thread. A machine for producing such amulti-ply thread is shown in FIG. 3, in which there are two cones 11 and111 on which the staple fiber threads 12 and 112 are wound. Alongsidethe cones 11 and 111 are two cones 14 and 114 on which are wound thecore material 16 and 116. Both the threads 12 and 112 and the corematerials 16 and 116 pass over a pulley 13, after which the staplefibers 12 and 112 are silicone coated on rollers 17 which are run withinsilicone baths 18 and 118. The coated fibers then enter tensioningmembers 19 and 119, while the core material enters tensioning members 21and 121 close by. The core material 21 and the fiber 19 are then woundupon a Godet 22, while the core material 121 and the fiber 119 are woundupon a similar Godet 122. Thereafter the combined fibers 26 and 126 fromthe Godets 22 and 122, respectively, are twisted to form threads asshown in FIG. 2 and wound upon spindles 29 and 129.

In order to produce a two-ply thread, the combination threads from thespindles 29 and 129 pass through tensioning devices 31 and 32 to a Godet33 and from thence to a winding apparatus 34, including a spindle 36where the two combination threads are wound together to form a two-plycombination thread.

After being wound upon the spindle 36 the combination thread of thepresent invention indicated generally by the reference character 37,passes around rollers 38 and through a heating chamber 39 which iselectrically heated by current from a source 41. The thread is thenpassed around rollers 42 and over the drum 43 which is rotating in asilicone bath 44. There is thereby provided an additional coat ofsilicone material to the two-ply thread although it will be understoodthat this step is not essential to the present invention. Thereafter thetwoply thread passes over rollers 46 and is wound upon the cone 47.

While the invention has been described in detail in connection with themethod of manufacture thereof, it will be understood that it is in noway limited to the specifics set forth. The description is merely forillustrative purposes and should not be construed to limit the inventionor the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A combination sewing thread comprising a core material of relativelyinelastic, endless, continuous filament yarns having substantially notwist and enwrapped by a stable fiber thread having an initial twist inone direction said staple fiber thread being Wrapped around said yarnsin the opposite direction from said initial twist.

2. A combination sewing thread comprising a core material of relativelyinelastic, endless, continuous filament yarns having no twist andenwrapped by staple fiber thread having an initial twist in onedirection, said staple fiber thread being wrapped around said yarns inthe opposite direction from said initial twist.

3. A combination sewing thread comprising a core material ofsubstantially inelastic continuous filament yarns having substantiallyno twist and enwrapped by cotton thread having an initial twist in onedirection said cotton thread being twisted on said core material in theopposite direction from said initial twist.

4. A combination sewing thread comprising a core material ofsubstantially inelastic continuous filament yarns having substantiallyno twist; and a staple fiber thread wrapped around said core material,said stple fiber thread having an initial twist in one direction, saidstaple fiber thread being wrapped around said core material in theopposite direction from said intial twst.

5. A combination sewing thread comprising a core .4 material ofsubstantially inelastic continuous filament yarns having substantiallyno twist; a staple fiber htread wrapped around said core material, saidstaple fiber thred having one direction of twist prior to being wrappedaround said core material and being wrapped in the opposite direction;and a layer of silicone on said staple fiber thread.

6. A combination, sewing thread comprising a core of tensioned Dacronfibers having substantially no twist; and a wrapping thread wrappedaround said Dacron fibers in one direction, said wrapping threadcomprising untensioned cotton fibers having an initial twist in theopposite direction.

7. A combination sewing thread comprising a core material of polyesterfibers having substantially no twist and a thread of natural cottonwrapped aroundsaid core material in one direction, said cotton having aninitial twist in the opposite direction.

8. A combination sewing thread comprising first and second plies, saidfirst ply comprising a first core of substantially inelastic continuousfilament yarns having initially, substantially no twist; a first staplefiber thread wrapped around said core material, said staple fiber threadhaving initially one direction of twist prior to being wrapped aroundsaid core material and being wrapped around said core material in theopposite direction; said second ply comprising a second core material ofsubstantially inelastic continuous filament yarns having substantiallyno twist; and a second staple fiber thread wrapped around said corematerial and having initially one direction of twist prior to beingwrapped around said second core material and being wrapped in theopposite direction around said second core material, said first andsecond plies being twisted together.

9. The process of forming a combination sewing thread comprising thesteps of enwrapping a staple fiber thread twisted in one directionaround a substantially inelastic continuous filament yarn by twistingsaid staple fiber thread around said yarn in a direction opposite to thedirection of twist of said staple fiber thread.

10. The process of claim 9 comprising the additional step of coatingsaid staple fiber thread with silicone prior to wrapping said staplefiber thread around said continuous filament yarns.

11. The process of forming a combination sewing thread comprising thesteps of enwrapping a staple fiber thread twisted in one directionaround a substantially inelastic continuous filament yarn havingsubstantially no twist by twisting said staple fiber thread around saidyarn in a direction opposite to the direction of twist of said staplefiber thread.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,205,285 6/1940 Farrell 57-1392,207,641 7/1940 Smith 57-139 2,313,058 3/ 1943 Francis 57-140 2,769,30011/1956 Luttge 57-144 XR 2,890,567 6/1959 Taylor 57--140 2,901,8849/1959 Weinberger 57140 3,098,347 7/1963 Smith 57140 3,115,745 12/1963Lathem 57-152 XR Re. 25,416 7/1963 Comer 57152 XR 2,526,523 10/1950Weiss 57 144 XR 3,092,953 6/1963 Blackstock 5'7160 XR 3,264,816 8/1966Jaggi 57-160 FOREIGN PATENTS 564,278 10/ 1958 Canada. 306,007 2/ 1929Great Britain. 311,052 5/ 1929 Great Britain. 311.447 5/1929 GreatBritain.

FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD E. WATKINS, Assistant Examiner.

